Thursday, 5 May 2016

The ones that got away

The Scotch Piper, Lydiate, Lancashire

I recently posted a quick top-of-the-head list of sixty of the best pubs in Britain. I made the point that I had omitted some well-known classic pubs which I had been to, simply because I hadn’t visited them for twenty-five years or more, such as:

Bell, Aldworth, Berkshire

Blue Ship, The Haven, Sussex

Olde Tavern, Kington, Herefordshire

Pandora, Restronguet Creek, Cornwall

Roscoe Head, Liverpool

Square & Compass, Worth Matravers, Dorset

Three Kings, Hanley Castle, Worcestershire

People also mentioned a number of pubs that were in their personal top tens that I hadn’t ever visited myself. Now, I’m not a dedicated pub explorer in the mould of Simon Everitt or Martin Taylor, but when I travel around the country I do make an effort to visit any outstanding pubs in the area. These are a few that either others have suggested or I’m aware of myself.

Bag O’Nails, Bristol (no idea what the attraction is there)

Beacon Hotel, Sedgeley, Staffordshire

Berkeley, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire

Coopers Tavern, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire

Holly Bush, Makeney, Derbyshire

Peter Kavanagh’s, Liverpool

Queen’s Arms, Cowden Pound, Kent

Scotch Piper, Lydiate, Lancashire

Tuckers Grave, Faulkland, Somerset

Vine (Bull & Bladder), Brierley Hill, Staffordshire

Any other ideas for must-visit pubs around the country that I may have missed? They don’t need to be untouched olde-worlde survivors, but pubs with some character over and above just the appeal of their beer range.

Looked at your original top 60 and this must visit - probably going to get shot for this, but there are some decent boozers in London - which seems to be entirely missed from both lists. Coach and Horses (Soho) for the history and legends that have drank there - The Dove, Hammersmith, for the views from the balcony and the Blackfriar next to the bridge for the internal decor and the way Betjeman saved it from demolition spring to mind.

London is a place I have no need to visit on business and no desire to visit as a tourist, so I doubt whether I'll be making up for that deficiency any time soon. Crikey, I even find central Manchester alienating.

The Pandora is now described as "rather food-orientated" - presumably more so than it was 25 years ago. Understandable in that location, but WhatPub still refers to "the maze of small ground floor rooms of the original cob building". Wonderful setting, though - try panning round from here.

The Rose & Crown at Huish Episcopi in Somerset. Lots of small rooms, some (if I remember correctly) only accessible through the stone-flagged, counterless serving area. Thatched roof as well. And staying in Somerset, the Halfway House at Pitney is pretty good as well. (Perhaps Curmudgeon will remember backing a minibus out of its carpark many years ago...)

Another pub worthy of a visit is The Bhurtpore Inn in Aston, Cheshire. It's a cracking little pub which was run by the George family since the 1850's. It was sold to a brewery in the early 20th century, but the current landlord Simon George bought it back 25 years ago and has been running it ever since. In addition to being a real ale paradise, it's a proper pub with dogs welcome.

As both John Clarke and Paul Felton know, I've never quite "got" the Bhurtpore. If you take the beer range away, you're left with a pretty ordinary pub, which isn't the case with the others on the list. Paul will also tell the tale of me carefully picking all the peas out of a samosa ;-)

In no order, some hostelries visited in last couple of years that have that hard to define feel of character and 'rightness' as a pub (landlord/landlady usually crucial in this):Craven Arms, BirminghamCambridge Blue, CambridgeBrunswick Inn, DerbyHalf Moon, HitchinDigby Tap, SherborneLand of Liberty, Peace and Plenty, HeronsgateRising Sun, BerkhamstedRed Lion, MarsworthPalmerston Arms, PeterboroughBridge Bier Huis, BurnleyMasons Arms, Lower OdcombeThe Barrels, HerefordRoyal Arms, Tockholes

Have left out a number in London in light of your views on our fair capital ;-).

Digby Tap and Barrels are both on my original list. I'd say both are proper pubs with atmosphere and a varied, vibrant clientele who aren't just there for the beer. I'll aim to make a list of all these suggestions with a view to ticking them off if in the area.

Eagle Ale House Clapham Junction/Wandsworth Common. If only because it's one of the few unrefurbished wet led boozers left in the area. And London is far more suburban outside of Zone 1 than you probably give it credit for.

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